John D’Alimonte

There will be a new home later this year for Riccardo’s Italian Restaurant.

The restaurant will be closing at its present location at the rear of the Echo building at 238 Dalhousie St. and moving to 65 Sandwich St. N., at the corner of St. Arnaud St., later this fall.

Owner Riccardo Maltese said he will be moving out of his present location Oct. 2 as his lease expires at the end of that month. He said he likes the new location he found in conjunction with local Re/Max realtor John D’Alimonte.

“I like it because there is parking for my customers and I like that building,” he said.

While plans are still being worked on for the new site, Maltese said it appears there will be additional seating capacity. There is also a new outdoor patio in the works.

D’Alimonte announced the move on Facebook last week and Maltese said the response has been great thus far.

Riccardo’s Italian Restaurant is moving from itscurrent location at 238 Dalhousie St. to a newlocation at 65 Sandwich St. North. The move should be complete later this year. image from John D’Alimonte’s Facebook page

“The response has been very, very positive,” said Maltese. “Everybody is glad I’m staying in Amherstburg.”

Maltese hopes the new site will be open in November but said it definitely will be open in time for Christmas. There are a few new things he hopes to try at the new location, but said he didn’t want to formally announce anything yet because the plans are still in the early stages.

“Renovations have started already,” he said, adding it will take a few weeks for his equipment to be moved from his current location to the new one.

Things came together quickly to move into the new location, he added.

“This only happened a week ago,” Maltese said last Friday afternoon.

Maltese has been in the restaurant industry in Amherstburg for the last two decades between his involvement at Rosa’s and with Riccardo’s Italian Restaurant for nearly ten years.

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The realtor selling Ranta Marina says one offer has been made but noted other offers are still welcome.

John D’Alimonte of Re/Max Realty said the marina is listed for sale on MLS and is being listed under a power of sale. He said the mortgagees took possession of the property last year and D’Alimonte just listed it in mid-January. A Woodbridge-based lawyer is acting on behalf of the Toronto investors who currently have the mortgage on the property, located at 1500 Front Road North.

It is being listed at $1,899,000. The town sold the marina in 2009 for $584,000.

Ranta Marina, as seen Jan. 31, 2016

“We do have an offer going back-and-forth,” said D’Alimonte.

Noting he is “fairly optimistic,” D’Alimonte did note that offers on these types of transactions often come in conditional on a number of items and if one of the conditions isn’t met, it can scuttle the offer.

“We encourage other buyers to come in as back up offers,” said D’Alimonte.

D’Alimonte pointed out the marina was built by the federal government and believes there will be others who show interest in the 104-slip facility.

“It’s a beautiful marina,” said D’Alimonte. “I think there is going to be a lot of interest.”

Stating people from out-of-town see the value of investing in this area, D’Alimonte believes that is where some of the interest could come from. The entire site is 13 acres.

“My goal is to market the property outside the region,” he said. “This could be attractive to American boaters, possibly.”

A number of people from the Toronto area are also buying up local land due to the lower prices as compared to the GTA.

“They are buying our investment properties. They are getting returns on their money,” said D’Alimonte.

According to D’Alimonte, the parkland next door is not part of the deal. The town elected to keep that land in 2009.

“The Ranta Park is not included,” said D’Alimonte.

D’Alimonte emphasized his belief that it is a “jewel of a property” and estimated it could be three to five months before it is known whether the current offer will be fully accepted.

A new condominium project has officially been launched in Amherstburg.

The South Pointe Condominiums are now officially on the market with the new six-floor development being proposed for 182 Pickering Dr., next door to the Wesview apartment building. The building is being developed by John Lajoy and Steve Newman with John D’Alimonte of Re/Max Realty and Ron Deneau of Bob Pedler Real Estate Realty handling the sales.

The marketing campaign for the new South Pointe Condominium development has been launched. From left: John D’Alimonte and Steve Blais from Re/Max Realty, developer Steve Newman, developer John Lajoy and Ron Deneau of Bob Pedler Real Estate.

The new building will have 26 units with the possibility of a 27th unit. D’Alimonte indicated the zoning on the property suits the new development.

“Everything is done. The site plan is completed,” he said. “We are now going into the marketing phase.”

Deneau spoke highly of the look of the building, noting the floor-to-ceiling windows and style of the proposed structure.

“There’s been nothing built like this in town,” said Deneau. “It’s got a Toronto flare to it.”

“It’s a contemporary design that is trending in other communities,” added Lajoy.

Deneau said home values are starting to move up and that could allow the condominiums to be attractive to homeowners and renters.

Lajoy pointed out he and Newman own adjacent property, the former Wesley United Church lands at 365 Sandwich St. S. He said what attracted them to propose building a new condominium development on Pickering Dr. is that there appeared to be a need for it within Amherstburg.

“We had heard and seen there was a lack of new residential condominiums in town,” said Newman. “It comes right at you.”

“There hadn’t been a new development here for several years,” added Lajoy.

Prices start at $229,900 with Deneau noting many will range in the mid-to-upper $200,000’s. The average size of a unit is around 1,200 square feet with some going as high as 1,608 square feet.

As for when shovels will go into the ground, Lajoy indicated that is dependent on sales as the building will begin after 60 per cent of units have been sold. There will be an information session Feb. 29 at 7 p.m. at Riccardo’s Italian Restaurant, with those interested in attending having to pre-register first.

People can register by going to www.southpointecondos.ca.

Newman added they have been using local firms on the project, including engineers and architects from the Windsor-Essex County area.